The Shy Thing

I've always seen him
the shy thing
standing behind doors
hiding around corners
nobody sees him
but I do
he's very shy
the shy thing
with his little smile
his little teeth
his long claws

he doesn't eat much
usually the rotting things
at the bottom of the bin
he likes them
they're easier to eat
and they taste like something
he likes the grease on the polystyrene containers
I bring home
he likes spicy food

nobody believes me
when I tell them about him
they can't see him
they think he's imaginary
but I see him
he's always been here
for as long as he can remember
in this house
and he knows all the best places to hide
under the small table in the hallway
nobody looks there
up the three doors in the ceiling
nobody notices them
behind the television unit
in the empty cupboard nobody uses
often you'll hear a light go on or off
but you don't know which light it was
it's the light in the ceiling
in the dead of night
you can sometimes hear is feet shuffle
he doesn't walk so well
he's been hurt
long ago
so he shuffles
wearing odd socks
the ones that go missing in the wash
I gave him an old shirt of mine once
and we became instant friends

I made noodles for him once
he didn't like them
he left them till they went all green
then he slurped them up

he's a very good friend
one day the bad people came
they said they fix the electricity
one man went up into the ceiling
he never did say what he saw
but he came down his rickety ladder
white like a crushed fast food plate
he wouldn't say
his boss said he was being silly
the shy thing sat on the boss' head
I don't know what everyone else saw

but the boss died some days after that in hospital
they said his brains went all green
the shy thing said he went to visit the boss
in hospital
he said it was the only time he'd ever leave
when he went out to eat
he said that with a smile I didn't like

but
the shy thing is such a good friend
but now I don't like going up into the ceiling any more
not since the boss came to stay in my house
I didn't like it
but the shy thing insisted
the boss screams a lot
when the shy thing locked the boss up in the ceiling
then I couldn't hear the boss so well any more
which I liked
he's very afraid
and that makes me afraid
the screams upset me
but the shy thing keeps him quiet with his nails
most of the time anyway
but nobody else can hear the screams
I guess
some people are good
at only seeing and hearing
what they want to

-o0o-